I recently had a transmission go out on a 2001 Accord at 74,000 miles. The dealer offered to put a new one in for $3,152.97 (out of warranty). The dealership person mentioned that this a common problem and not associated with the way I drive. When I bought the car 10 years ago I expected the transmission to last a lot more than than 75K. Was I mistaken? Aren’t Honda’s supposed to be reliable?. Time to dig for facts.
Well the dealership person is correct. My ’01 Accord does have a high rate of transmission failure according to fellow Accord owners. Los Angeles Times did a story on crappy Honda transmission back in 2002.
Consumer Reports confirms that my perception about the reliability of Honda cars is correct. This survey in 2009 lists Honda as the 2nd most reliable car company. Since the survey was conducted before the “Toyota unintended acceleration” issue, my guess is that Honda would now be at the top.
However reality is the exact opposite. Here is a list of 20 worst problem vehicles taken from CarComplaints (as of 28-Sep-2010)
CarComplaints.com uses inputs from the users and the following factors to come up with the ranking
- average mileage at failure
- cost to fix & repair
- total number of complaints
- owners’ ranking of how bad the problem was
Let us consolidate the list by brands
| Brand Name | Number of Cars |
|---|---|
| Chrysler | 2 |
| Dodge | 5 |
| Ford | 4 |
| Honda | 7 |
| Nissan | 1 |
| Toyota | 1 |
Notice that Honda has the highest number of models on the list. In other words, Honda makes 35% of the worst cars in the list. Now that is something I would never have expected based the perception of reliability of Honda’s.
What makes this number even more shocking is that Honda has only a 10% share of the US car market (as of 1-Oct-2010). So a company that only sells 10% of the cars contributes 35% of the worst cars on the market. Does that mean by selecting Honda you are 3.5 times as likely to end up with a worst car as opposed to selecting a car at random??
Another way to look at the same information is to see the average age of the worst cars by Brand.
| Brand | Average Year | Average Age |
|---|---|---|
| Chrysler | 2001.5 | 8.5 |
| Dodge | 2000.8 | 9.2 |
| Ford | 2003 | 7.0 |
| Honda | 2003.8 | 6.2 |
| Nissan | 2002 | 8 |
| Toyota | 2002 | 8 |
Again Honda has the youngest cars on the list. i.e. A Honda ends up on the worst car list after only 6 years. Yikes!!
So the next time you see the Honda commercial guy knocking on your TV screen,remember he wants to sign you up for high repair bills.
;
My experience with Honda quality 
I can state from experience that you should not assume that because it is a Honda it will be reliable. My 2001 Odyssey transmission failed at around 70,000 miles and had to be replaced and the replacement transmission just failed on me at 130,000 miles. My 2003 Accord also has had its share of problems: I had to resurface the rotors and replace the rear pads at only around 15,000 miles (I have many cars over 30 years and I have never had replace the pads so early), the headliner came loose and had to be completely replaced a few years ago, as well as the sun visor, and I had to spend $2,000 to fix the air conditioner last year, the traction control warning light keeps coming on, and the steering is starting to make a groaning sound, and I’m worried that the automatic transmission may fail so as the 2003 accord transmissions have a reputation for premature failure. As I no longer consider Honda’s reliable I think my next car will be a Sonata or Optima as both are better looking and offer more features than the Accord and I get a superior warranty (if Honda had any confidence in the reliability of its products it would offer a longer warranty).
Honda is better at making lawn mowers. Just for curiosity in 2008 we bought a Honda CRV. Two months ago the AC stopped working. Their is a warranty recall on one of the parts, however, you have to pay a diagnostic fee to get to that part. Never, ever, Honda. My Toyota never needed any major work till 200,000 miles. It is the most noisy car you will find for a new car.
No, their lawnmowers are unreliable as well.
Well, I have a 99 accord with less than 1500 in repairs total ever and just got rid of my 15 year old Honda mower, still ran good just tired.
The Accord/Odys/Pilot transmissions from certain years had problems. Honda’s other automatic transmissions are capable of 300,000 with ordinary regular maintenance. Honda’s engines are as reliable as any ever made.
My wife bought a new Accord in 2007. Had a rear shock issue, dealt under warranty, now just under 100k miles, no other issues, only regular servicing. Only major service costs, brakes and rotors twice each time around approx 50k miles
B/S I am currently rebuilding an 07 Accord engine w/ 100k miles that’s using oil like a diesel and their installation procedure is like no other! I wouldn’t own anything engineerd by any Japanese company. Period
My dad and I both had Honda accords, mine was used under 200k with transmission trouble and my dad’s was a more late model accord. He had to take it in to the dealer to have the tranny replaced at 11k, not cool!!! Toyota on the other hand which I’ve owned my share are insanely reliable, yeah Honda builds in horsepower, who cares. I’m much more interested in reliability. If anyone doesn’t believe me please see on YouTube “how to kill a Toyota”. Which really should read “unable to kill a Toyota!!!” I’d like to see any Honda pass that test, LOLX10
, the reason Honda doesn’t have a video like that is they are inferior to Toyota and could not make it through such rigorous torture. If you watch the 3 part video, you’ll be a believer.
I have a 2002 honda crv and the thing has been unbeleible, never skips a beat and runs just as good as the day i bought it. 370,000km on it. GF even rearended someone, they fixed it and it runs just fine. Honda quality rules.
That’s because you probably drive like s grandmother, any car would last that long if you keep the rpms below 1000, i drive like a man and my 2013 civic SI can’t handle it, it’s already falling apart at 33,000 miles durability none, weak flimsy pansy car
Yeah, I bet he drives like a little bitch!
Actually my wife’s Accord was a 2002 bought new and we just sold it last year without a single mechanical repair needed. Not only did we not drive it like a grandmother, I had a 50 hp nitrous kit on it and I probably ran 200 lbs of nitrous through the engine during the time we had it. Her’s looked practically brand new when we sold it, but I see others around the same year all the time that look like crap. I think most people just don’t know how to take care of a car. People do all kinds of things that are hard on cars like pulling off a highway and immediately turning the car off or running them hard when the engine/transmission is cold, etc.
Try Again, they make the absolute worst crap around. We had a CRV and it was unreal, terrible is the only way to explain what garbage they are making. Check car complaints and see what the CRV says, one of the worst for the past few years ! You may have a good one, but the majority are certainly not.
I bought a Honda Accord stick shift transmission at the beginning of 1998. I still own it as of 2017. The car has never broken down on me. No major mechanical issues since 98. Also, i just bought a new Honda Accord Coupe V6 touring last month (Automatic transmission). 😬
i’ll see how it goes.
Last but not least, all car manufacturers have their issues.
I’ll
Certainly not had one too and terrible was the word, thousands in repairs.
I bought my RSX with 252k miles on the clock with the original engine. Now, it’s reaching 265k with zero major issues. The biggest issue that I had was that my A/C was not working, but the compressor was replaced for $130 and now the A/C works flawlessly. By the way, I drive slightly on the aggressive side
I have had 3 Honda Accord lemons, never again. I’ll take just about anything over a Honda. P.S. their lawnmowers suck too.
My 2000 Accord is a 5-speed manual. It has 180k miles on it and runs better than any other car ive owned. My last car was a 93 accord 5-speed and it had 235k miles and ran as good as my 2000 until i wrapped it around a telephone pole. My girlfriend has a 2000 Accord 5 speed with 280k miles that runs flawlessly. Her parents have a 2003 accord with 170 on it and its an automatic with zero problems. These are the most reliable cars I have ever seen. This forum is obviously biased and trying to ruin the good name of Honda Motor Company. By the way, automatic transmissions go, buy a 5 speed! 5 speed hondas pretty much always approach 300k with minimal problems.
Dude the author is referring to newer honda’s recent decline in reliability. the “youngest” honda you own and used as a coumterpoint reference is a 2000, prior to the onset of unreliable models.
Yeah sure, if you drive like a 90 year old woman any car is reliable. But if you drive like a man I highly doubt the durability as honda’s is 2 out of 10. I beat the crap out of my 2007 subaru impreza wrx sti turbo, always pushing the car to the limit, built like s tank. My 2013 civic si, biggest piece of trash I’ve ever drove, flimsy, over weight, prius looking, high beltline, minivan looking trash, no performance what so ever, I run faster than that car, the seat sits high like a mini van, the traction system is flawed, cutting power when it’s not needed, big huge cabin and short snub hood, terrible trash, can’t wait to give it back and pick up a 2017 fiat abarth 124 spider
You’re buying a 2017 Fiat for reliability?
Well, both my 2004 Fiat Punto 1.3 diesel and my friend’s brand new bought 2016 Fiat Punto 1.2 have so far been a lot more reliable than my workmate’s 2008 north american model Civic 1.8 sedan with 5-speed manual. He imported the Civic from Canada to Europe back in October of 2017 and after driving the car for just 3 months and 2.500 miles the engine block cracked (a common fault of the 2006-2009 Civics with the 1.8 engine built in North America, the Civics with the same engine sold in the rest of the world don’t have this problem), so he had to replace the whole engine, costing him well over $1000 (fortunately, Honda is aware of the problem so they replaced the engines of most cars that had cracked blocks for free, however they didn’t replace the engines in cars that had salvage titles, and the one that my workmate bought turned out to be one of those). Meanwhile, my 2004 Punto is at 99k miles at the moment, I covered about 17.500 myself since I bought it two years ago and it hasn’t missed a beat, and my friend’s 2016 Punto has done about 10k so far, also without any problems. If it’s a Honda, it doesn’t means that it will be reliable by default, nor it means that if it’s a Fiat, it will break down all of the time, one should not be a fanboy of a certain brand, all manufacturers have good and bad cars.
Absolutely not, most Hondas have had multiple transmission failures, a standard may be different but the majority of there cars are automatics and that is trouble from day 1.
Why do you think the odyssey is the worst van on the road, multiple transmission failures.
They do not make accepatle cars any longer, people are just brainwashed.
The real test of reliability is racing them in the 24 Hours Of LeMons.. where production cars are subjected to rigors of endurance racing. What one discovers about Honda cars in general.. while they many be reliable as street/road cars, they have a awful record at LeMons racing. Honda Accord, Civic, Prelude and related Integra cars tend to pop cylinder head gaskets, spit connecting rods, digest CV joints & axles, toast transmissions and more..
Do keep in mind the class action law suite settlement regarding failed Honda Transmissions.
Toyota cars are not much better at LeMons racing than Honda. Toyota had a similar class action law suite regarding engine failures (many under 30,000 miles) engine oil sludge.
It turns out one of the most robust and reliable LeMons racers is the Volvo 240 series, Orginal GM Saturn and Alfa Romeo (totally counter to what the US car buying public believes.
Read about the findings here:
http://jalopnik.com/5450420/results-of-the-lemons-torture-test-volvo-alfa-saturn-the-most-reliable-500-beaters
Well, I always say that if you want to treat your car like a race car, you’ll have to maintain it like a race car.
Very True. According to my knowledge, race car engines get rebuilt after every race.
Honda Civic Reborn is my favorite car.
100km at 10 sec……. GooD Pickup
Thanks.
I can understand your frustration. Hondas have a problem with automatic transmissions on select models – the Accord, Odyssey, Pilot (though that may have gotten resolved with recent years’ models) and some model year Civics. This stems from what’s called the “Hondamatic”: back when Honda was a young, small, fighting company, it resisted paying royalties on transmission patents by developing its own proprietary transmission. The Hondamatic bears resemblance to a manual transmission; it’s effectively a “mechanized-automatic”; and each gear ratio has its own clutch, each smaller than a standard clutch on other transmissions, so these clutches have to take on the pressure during gear shifts. In a way, I’m amazed they don’t fail more often.
I’m on my 2nd Honda – both automatics. The 1st was a Civic which hit 161,000 miles before dropping it; it was a great car that waited until 124,000 miles before requiring its 1st repair (exhaust manifold, covered under emissions warranty); my 2nd Honda has 122,000 miles.
Hondas are for the most part good cars, assuming the transmission holds up; I know their manuals are very good, so which go over 200,000 miles with the factory clutch. So far (knock on wood), I’ve avoided the transmission fanfare; I don’t drive my cars hard, and I also change the transmission fluid every 15,000 miles.
You may want to check your facts, the fact that they have paid off Consumer Reports, is not proof they they are even acceptable. By far one of the worst brands available today and transmission issues remain, Try a 2014 with a bad transmission at 5,000m ? Does that sound like they fixes the problems, I think not. Buy a real car next time.
I bought a 9 year old Civic auto (conventional auto) in 2012 with 70,000 miles on the clock. It now has 125,000 on it and the only trouble I ever had was a broken driveshaft when I was preoccupied and accidentally revved up in N before engaging D. Still does 35-40mpg in city, 45-50 on a cruise. A/C and all LX fine. Me, I’m going to run it into the ground, then buy a newer Civic!
Heh, wondering how your Civic tranny held up? Thinking of buying a 2002 LX with 125k miles but needs timing belt, otherwise very well maintained but AT issue worries me. Thanks….
i’m still drivingvmy honda concerto 1991 automatic at 116000 miles and still going strong with no problems over 10 years. i have service it myself every once in a while and had to replace the radiator last year which still worked fine even though it was so corroded i could push my finger thrpugh any part of it. overall very impressed and will definately buy honda again
Everybody here is missing the point.
#1) Hondas are very popular cars. So the website isnt taking into account that because there are more Hondas on the road, there will be more complaints.
#2) I have a 1999 Honda CR-V, 5 speed manual that JUST died at 321968 miles. I have but the done the usual maintenance, along with replacing the clutch, radiator and ball joints. No car i’ve ever driven runs as good as my Honda did.
#3) Automatic transmisions will eventually fail. Look at it similar to a clutch on a manual transmission. Some are flawed but eventually they will all fail. Manual transmissions have less heat, less moving parts and less internal pressure, they are therefore more reliable.
#4) Honda is the only Car manufacturer that builds an AUTOMOBILE engine that redlines over 9000 RPM.
#5) And for those that say that they dont buy Honda because its not American, keep in mind that Most Hondas have more american parts than any Dodge, Chevy or Ford.
The only car company on this list Honda outsells is Nissan, what are you even talking about?
He’s not talking about brand sales, he’s talking about model sales. For example, Ford outsells just about everyone with it’s trucks and SUVs, an area in which Honda barely competes. Accords and Civics outsell just about every other car (with the exception of some Toyota products).
Hondas a flimsy car designed for pansy drivers, I run maximum rpm and brake pressure, from my racing experience honda is the weakest car on the market, but I mean it’s good for you cause driving like a flimsy weak grandma won’t put wear on any car, hence why honda drivers are so happy with their Hondas
Your macho attitude doesn’t really help people with car issues.
Too bad that my shitty as Honda S2000 can obliterate your rod-throwing, ringland-failing Subaru
If the CRV’s have more American an parts, we are in trouble because they are absolute crap. We had 2 1997 and 2006, both were traded for AMERICAN cars and they will be no more. Both were sub par is reliability and both were essentially embarrassing when the rest of our friends had high end American SUV’s. In the end it’s all about how someone perceives you and otwon’t be good in any Honda.
Yes Honda myth is only a myth. They are expensive to fixed,painted poorly,and rust iut like no other car.Look around not many old hondas and the ones you see are rust buckets with faded paint.
well i drive a 93 acoord with manual transmission. i have 387.000 plus miles on it and i would trust driving it across the country before i would any other car.
I wouldn’t trust it to get down the driveway !
Our 2000 Accord crapped out the transmission in just 86,000 miles we told the dealer 2 time while it was within the extended warranty of hard and jerky shifting the just ignore it we have copies of the work order stating we Tolstoy the dealer of this problem. .
I send an email to the director of sales at Honda the SOB coulees not craw less
I hope a national tv crew will do a story on a honda they the fact the crappy transmissions have not kill someone yet is the only good news hear
No offense, but please write clearly and grammatically, so people can understand your thoughts.
After reading all these comments about hondas reliability I realize that:
1. People ignore what they want to ignore.
2. You cant ignore facts. Search on carcomplains.com, edmunds.com or anywhere on the net, and you will realize that whatever the critics say about honda reliability lacks credibility in the real world.
3. If you still dont believe that honda’s ”reliability” is a myth then you just don’t want to face reality.
I own a 2003 Odyssey bought with 90000Km: 2nd tranny already failing, consumes oil and motor mounts broke. So if changing 2 trannys in 4 years means reliable then Im lucky. There are so many other ” lucky” honda owners out there.
Not true – what you find on the WEB is anecdotal at best and not scientific – it is self reported information that is not controlled by any type of parameters of research. Most people who choose to SELF report on the web are the ones that have problems – naturally. So the results on those type of “anybody can post” websites are naturally SKEWED towards the negative. Unlike Consumer Reports and JD Power which are TRUE scientific studies that more accurately show the whole truth. I have owned Honda’s since 1991 and NEVER have been stranded by one of my Honda’s – not once!
For clarity, there is nothing scientific about Consumer Reports or JD Powers. Neither are based on replicating experimentation. Both operate on manufacturer contributions, and neither conducts long term tests–JD Powers actually tests nothing.
We have, many times and maintain them well. Absolutely some of the worst cars on the road and cheap, the public needs to invest with cars that have some class !
Well, it’s wonderful that others find Hondas so reliable. My first Honda, a brand new Civic, lasted one year before it was a write-off. The unbelievably bad brakes (rated ‘poor’ by Consumer Reports) were to blame; I’ve never experienced anything so bad since (though my current car comes close…). But after 23 years of no Honda cars (just one Honda motorcycle – nothing special, really) I was persuaded to try it once more.
So five months ago I bought a (Honda authorized) used, top-of-the-range Accord, with extended warranty, paint protection, etc. and 33k on the clock. It certainly looked good when stationary. Well, I’d driven it 45 miles before a rear caliper seized up and I had to waste a day getting it sorted out. Since then, it’s been in the shop three times. The latest one was the best: the self-leveling headlight contraption on the rear axle failed, so I was blinding everyone. I took it in, but the Honda warranty won’t cover it because of “corrosion”.
When I bought the car I remarked to the salesman that the ‘corrosion’ bit on the exclusions could be used for just about anything – and that’s exactly what happened. Well, I’ll be getting it fixed soon and then selling it (the ad’s ready; I just need some photographs). I’m sure Honda fans will jump at the chance of getting an ‘excellent’ Accord with only 37K…
And for those of you who think ‘so what, Honda’s not losing anything’, the reason I bought a used Honda was as a test (of its supposed reliability); my wife was considering getting a new CR-V this spring (not anymore she ain’t!) and I was going to get a Fireblade (hello, BMW…). It’ll be considerably longer than 23 years before I consider another Honda.
i have a 2004 civic with 200,100 miles on it. ive done only maintenance on it and one ball joint replacement. some people just arent lucky
We’ve owned five Hondas, four of them durable – but the one we have now is terrible. It’s a 2007 Accord. We bought it loaded out with all the options including navigation. It was slightly used but looked and drove like a new one. But after about a year we began to have serious problems.
A spark plug broke and the head had to be removed and retreaded, No one can seem to align the front suspension. It eats tires like crazy. Sounds like a 4-wheel drive truck with huge tires on the highway. The fit and finish look mediocre. Maintenance and repair costs have been massive.
Just today the AC compressor went out.
Even before I saw this site, I had concluded that when Honda gets it right, they make great cars.
But when it’s wrong… it is terrible. Yes, in many cases the so-called Honda quality is a myth.
This will be our last one.
01-07 were bad years. Our family has a couple of 11 accords that run like champs.
It must be a rebuilt salvage title car that had not been repaired correctly.
honda is a piece of shit, highly overrated. just because people worship the honda idol does not mean it’s reliable.
And just because people use curse words and no examples to describe honda does not mean it’s not reliable.
Honda is a piece of crap, the reliability stories you hear are due to pansy drivers who keep it under 1000 rpm, when you drive like a man and push the car to the limit, go test s honda see how it has zero durability, it’s a flimsy over rated wussy car
Actually you WRONG, they are in fact unreliable, you THINK what you want, but your only fooling yourself, they are the worst of the worst, and this comes directly from a mechanic !
Totally agree! Time to buy something vintage form early 70’s!
Time to get 1966 Camaro!
Is it a coincidence? Every time (way to often) I go to my mechanic ,who is a Honda guy, there is another Honda or Acura having its tranny replaced, one day it was my mechanic’s MDX ( that he had just bought 4 months ago) on the lift. Guess what had broken……..You are right, tranny had gone south, without any warning.
It’s in reality a nice and useful piece of info. I am glad that you shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
My 91 civic needed a clutch at only 332,000 miles … pretty bad if you ask me, I expected it to last forever.
Hahaha, Peter. This is my favorite post. I’ve had similar experiences. I’m on my 4th Honda, and I’ve only had one major problem among them. 300,000 on an Accord (manual), 200,000 on another Accord (sport wagon), 170,000 on a Pilot (still driving), 107,000 on the 4th Accord (automatic, still driving). Model years from 1988 to 2006.
In general, these are phenomenal cars. Of course things change over time; parts, engineers, etc. But there’s no need to give up on the brand over one car issue. I find it very interesting that nearly all of the negative comments are coming from people that bought used cars or didn’t indicate that they did any research on the model they were about to buy. Always research the specific model ahead of time!!
stop riding the clutch and learn to drive a manual the way it suppose to be driven. i have a manual with 387,000 plus miles on it and have had no problems with my clutch.
And if your not embarrassed to be driving a civic, of any year I promise you the rest of us are laughing, that isn’t even a real car !
Hondas are usually bought by older retired people here in the UK and therefore don’t cover as many miles a year – compared with a Ford, VW etc, etc. So, law of averages, they won’t fail as often. Also, consumer surveys like JD Power et al are very subjective: the older clientele will always rate their Honda higher in comparison to the horrendous British Leyland product they more than likely owned in the 1960s/70s. A more accurate, less biased survey method would be to collate data from breakdown recovery agents and warranty providers with recorded mileage of vehicles and specific details of mechanical failings; I suspect Honda’s legendary reliability would turn out to be not that great after all but more on a par with other makes.
On a personal level, Hondas have never appealed to me. Their styling is usually incredibly bland or utterly stupid: Honda Civic (European model). Build quality and material quality lags behind many, usually German, European marques and – like many of you have found in the US – rusting does seem to be a problem. You certainly don’t see many old Hondas left on the roads compared with Mercs, BMWs, Audis and VWs!
In the US, insurance rates are a good predictor of reliability . Of course, rates are speculative on new models.
not true. I see many old hondas on the road every single day. i mean, eeeevery single day. I pass by at least more than a hundred hondas every single day.
I bought a new Accord in 98. I’ve had it for 20 years with no major mechanical problems. Honda stick shift that is. 160,000 miles, still running.
Honda’s automatic transmission has unique design ( no planetary gear unlike most other brands). This unique Honda transmission design is reliable on light vehicles like CRV, but not for heavy ones like Odyssey, MDX, Accord etc. I had Accord and Civic for 10+ years very reliable and of course they have MANUAL tranny. Avoid heavy Honda vehicle models with automatic transmission.
This is also true for ANY car with a/t (even one with planetary gears)!
MYTH is right! Spring, 2012, my 2002 Honda Civic Automatic had only 57,000 miles when the tranny died and I just made it to a repair shop. They tried draining the fluid and replacing it but when it was towed to transmission shop the diagnosis was dead tranny. I had been planning on keeping the car for another few years but after forking over $2500 for a rebuilt tranny and reading blogs online about these failing as well, I traded in the car for a Subaru which I wish I had bought in the first place.
No point in contacting Honda Corp regarding an issue such as this when the warranty is run out – they won’t do a damn thing.
Buy a honda after the 07 model year and you won’t have the transmission issues.
I had a conversation with a technician at a lube shop. He told me about a friend who had transmission problems with his 2014 Honda
Hello to everyone !
First of all I would like to say that I’m glad that I found this article on the web, this article confirms to me that I’m not insane.
I was a Honda fan for all my life, I had motorcycles like the 1000RR, CB1300 Super Four and now I ride the CB1000R . Like many other people, conviced ny the Honda’s good build quality and reliability I’ve decided (in 2008) to purchase the Civic 5D with the 1.8 litre engine and the I-Shift transmision. THE WORST MISTAKE EVER MADE !!!! And I will explain to everibody why !
2008 – 6000 Km/ problems with the front suspension. The shock absorber bearing from the left side failed. Replaced on waranty.
2008- 15000Km/ again problems with the front suspension … the same bearing failed again … !!! And again replaced on waranty.
2009- 32000Km/ clutch failure ……. !!! the whole kit was replace toghether with the manifold. Still on waranty …
YES I KNOW … ! Some of you will blame “bad luck” for this problems !
2011- 68000Km/ the stearing broke down … again replaced on waranty. Lucky me , this happened with only one week before the waranty expired .
2011- 75000Km/ some bearings inside the gearbox failed and they ware making a strange sound… replacememt cost allmost 1000Euros.
imidiatly after fixing the problem, I SOLD THE DAMN THING TO THE FIRST CUSTOMER !!!! Best decision I have ever made !!!!
Bought a Subaru Legacy wich after two and a half years and allmost 50000Km runs like the day I took it out from the showroom flloor .
I will never in my life buy a another Honda, car or motorcycle !!!!
“I was a Honda fan for all my life” …. “I will never in my life buy a another Honda”. LOL!
maybe its because non of you maintain your car properly, all of you always going to the mechanic and letting them rap you out of $3000, learn to work on your own car and fix it yourself. you will save time and money and appreciate your car more. every car has it problems, shit I had a brand new bmw and the engine blew up at 75000 miles. don’t expect any car to be perfect. most importantly stop driving automatics, learn to drive stick. so instead of replacing a whole auto tranny you just have to replace a clutch. stop trying to ruin Hondas name.
Driving for about 30 years. Nissans, Toyotas, Fords, GMs, Mazdas, Hondas (odyssey). None of the cars I drove (owned) had problems (GM gasket..$700, lasted 9 years w/o other issues) and were well maintained. Then bought a Honda (5yrs old) have changed, tranny, radio, shocks, motor mounts, catalyser. And the new Honda tranny I got still works erratically…the rest of the car is still ok (HAHA).
Nowadays we have the internet…we are the people speaking, so if you see a lot of complains about Hondas most likely they are true. Everybody I know who owns a honda (Accord, Mdx, Civic, Odyssey), had to change the tranny before the car was 10 years old (and low mileage). And everybody I know who owns a Nissan never changed anything.
Draw your own conclusions and do not defend the big corporations who only try to rip you off.
Honda has ever since been in our hearts for many years. But on 25 Oct 2013 it just shuttered our hearts forever, we will never buy any HONDA cars. The advertisement round the globe thro IT, media or anything are plain bullshits! Our brand new Honda City VTEC 1.5 not come to 24hours, the aircond was leaking n the carpet flooded. In/out the workshop and only wasted our time and energy coupled that HONDA will not hold responsibilty to compensate the customer despite such new problems and the car costed RM83K payable within 9 yrs. What a fuck, HONDA dares to put itself as good prestige car in the world!!!! A real shame to own a HONDA car plain within 24hr of driving!
Can you please post in English next time? Thanks.
What a strange thing to say… Why would you say that Kory?
You should keep in mind endless makes and models of vehicles are out there that require endless repairs just to keep them going. They don’t have the luxury of making it to 200 or 300,000 miles on basic maintenence. More than not end up in a junkyard with a transmission replacement the least of its problems.
Some info should be updated. Look at CarComplaints.com; honda still has 5 cars out of 20 in the worst complain list, including a 2009 model. Let me think, 5 out of 20….that’s 20%…..just remember this is the exact opposite of reliability. If you still want a Honda, go ahead.
Bought a 2004 Accord V-6 with 31,000 miles on it. Purchased it from a Honda dealer, a “certified” used Honda, had it checked out by an independent mechanic before I bought it, who gave it a clean bill of health. I have always meticulously maintained my cars with oil changes, etc. The ENGINE failed at 95,000 miles and I had to replace the front axle at 116,000 miles. I paid $19K for this piece of junk. My last car was a Chevy Corsica, which I bought with 22,000 miles on it for $9000. I drove that car 9 years, and the biggest repair bill was $600. I sold the car to a friend for $500 when it had 205,000 miles on it. My friend is still driving the Corsica at 238,000 miles. I wish I had kept the Corsica. The Accord is THE Worst car I have ever owned, by far.
my friend has a 1991 Chevy Beretta 3.1, 5 speed that has over 800,000 on a car that has never been given an easy life, and yet its mostly original, those cars where tough no Honda ever was or will be that reliable
Honda paint problems – Wow!
I was thinking about buying a 2010 Honda Fit. There is a lot I like about the car. But when I started doing some online research, I found that Honda has an extensive, and shameful, history of very serious problem paint quality.
I have been continuing to research this. We are talking about Honda having to extend their warranty due to an absolute flood of consumer complaints – all about the paint. There have even been class action lawsuits.
I just spoke with a Honda dealer, and he admitted that Honda has had serious issues with paint. But he claims that is all in the past.
Please understand: I am not posting about a few anecdotal cases, I am posting about a flood of consumer complaints, recalls, class action lawsuits, and more. The Civics, and Odysseys, have been the biggest disasters.
Please google the following.
Warranty Extension: 2006-2010 Civic Body Panel Clear Coat Cracks
Top 255 Complaints and Reviews about Honda – Paint
Honda Defective Paint Class Action Lawsuit
100+ Voices Unhappy About Honda Clear Coat Paint Peel Defect & Honda’s Ambivalence
WTF is Happening to Honda Factory Paint ?!
It is water based lead-free biodegradable environment friendly:)
Problems with my 2006 civic engine mount collapsed , air conditioner failed, driver seat collapsed yes collapsed, airbag light on srs failure .Trunk wont open ,rotten exhaust system rusted out ,pulls to the right . brake rotters warped 10000 km . computer failure , car drifts on high way
cd player broke . bad alignment . ball joints bad 70000 km . battery failure , bad tires .
poor radio reception . 22 dollars for key fob battery head lights failure . 200 dollar winter
floor mats all four leaked water from day one . broken sun visor .
upholstery failure . stripped lug bolt. windshield wipers last two months ,
paint failure rust in one year .poor door alignment, molding falling from the sealing from day one . worst
car to drive in the snow . radio speaker failure . . oil leaks .
engine pinging . head lights lasted less than a year, under powered head lights very dangerous .
had to buy expensive head lights to replaced poor factory head lights. ceiling cloth falling on passenger . out . Seat still collapsing
parts are very very very very expensive. poor brakes .rust problems , door lock
mechanism broke .and when something goes wrong under warranty that when all
the fun begins . Honda never again .
Pingback: How Good is the CVT Transmission?? - Page 12 - Subaru Outback - Subaru Outback Forums
From my experience with a Honda I can say I have not been disappointed. I have a 95 Honda civic lx that has 241225 miles on it. Oil, transmission, and timing belt and radiator flushes have been maintained and so have the spark plugs and car still runs strong. At 240000 miles I had a bad head gasket. Cost me 945 to repair and she still purrs like the puss in boots. No problems with transmission and still shifts quietly and the way it is supposed to. Really it all depends on how well the owner treats his car. Do the right maintenance and your car should take care of you. I heard that Hondas after The year 2000 that they started to not give a crap. Which is why I ended up with a 95. Whether its true or not I do not know, an hopefully for the next 15-20 years will still not know. But I can say for sure that I will not trade this car for another car as of yet. Timing belt does cost 500 but is well worth it
Look, every car manufacturer makes some good cars and some bad ones. I’ve seen comments on this threat talking about Saturns and VWs being great cars. I’ve owned both a Saturn and a VW, and would never do so again because of the problems I had with each. I currently drive a Honda and love it, but I’m sure out of the hundreds of thousands of cars they sell each year, some do not live up to the standard Honda aims for. The same could be said for any manufacturer. Also, if you think Honda’s are expensive to fix, get a German car.
The more important question, why would you want to be seen in something so common ? Everyone we have meet is embarrassed to drive a Honda and makes it very well known to others, they are bottom of the Harrell in terms of class, that’s a problem.
My 1998 accord has 210k miles, original engine and transmission. So…. Bad luck for you.
I own 3 Hondas myself, and I aman auto tech. I can say that 90’s Hondas are probably some of the easiest to repair, and cheapest to maintain cars that I’ve seen. All of my cars (92 accord, 96 civic, 98 accord) are past the 200,000 mile mark, and they all run fine. If you keep up with maintenance, and also realize that Honda automatic transmissions aren’t the strongest things in the world, also making sure that you use only Honda transmission fluid when doing fluid changes, that alone can reduce the chances of transmission failures. But I can say for the bashing of Honda in this article, that a well known issue for oddyseys and 98-01 accords to have poor automatic transmissions and fail all the time. Perhaps you should read up about the car you are looking to buy before actually purchasing it, or pay attention to the service bulletins that come out for your car, you could have gotten a transmission replaced for free years ago. Just my 2¢.
I sort of disagree. Got my civic from honda philippines and everything seems to be quite fine. Not that I had it in-depth tested, but it was sure enough to keep me satisfied.
Honda Fit (brasil model) here. The car is manual and works perfectly good, only I need remplace brakes after 70.000km or 6 years, very cheap, no noise plastic in the interior. But the problem is the CVT, the 30% of honda jazz have problems. The electronic (worse thing actualy for german and americans) is excelent in this car. The solution is BUY A HONDA MANUAL. Automatic buy a DSG is not very reliable but is quick. The normal 4 speed transsmision is a shit in all cars. Please people. Driving manual cars is better!
Honda makes one of the most reliable cars on the planet. Any retard can make a claim and put on a diagram along with a non sense article. Ur claim is the EXACT opposite of the truth. Go get a job and stop hating on Hondas dude. U sound like a fucktard
Really, shuffle? The original poster sets out his arguments in a reasoned, orderly fashion, quoting websites & actual statitistics. You come in, present no facts, just opinion, & in the finest, time honored tradition, proceed to imply he’s a “fucktard”. Read what others have posted about their experiences w/Honda (lack of) quality before you go around leveling accusations. Present some real evidence to support your claims, or run the real risk of sounding “like a fucktard” yourself.
That’s such a bullshit article. Have u thought about taking it down? Since everyone has the opposite opinion to u? Lol I’m sure ur talking outta ur ass. And no the claim with older Hondas being more Reliable is false. I have an 06 civic and have never had a problem with it. I commute to cold and brutal provinces and I drive it a lot in -30 death rds. I wouldn’t do it in any other car cuz I know if I get stranded in a quiet mountain pass where there is cell reception at 2:00 am I’m dead in the matter of minutes
I am no Honda fan, but my wife owns a 2000 Acura (Honda) 3.5RL and it has 185.000 and wont stop running. I dont like the car but I can see that it is a quality car made to last. I drive a Cadillac that gives me problems all the time, but I love the car and wouldnt trade it for any Japanese car. I know a few people that have had the trans problem with their Accord model, its sad becuase many of them are very low mileage and great condition cars. Modern transmissions are not cheap.
My 2002 Honda Odyssey’s transmission failed at 52,000 miles. All regular maintenance done at Honda dealer and all Honda would do is limit my cost to $3000 for a replacement tranny with a 3 yr/36,000 mile warranty. You bet I love dumping extra cash into a minivan that is rarely driven. I am now at 78,000 miles and am expecting it to fail again as all transmission shops have told me that this is a design defect and it will fail again. Still waiting on the Class action lawsuit for these years of Honda’s.
I am not sure about my 2010 accord v6. at 45k miles the frond end developed crunching and popping noises especially in hot weather. at 48k I took it in and was told the lower ball joints were bad! and that the rear brakes needed resurfacing ($$$). Yeah we have bad roads here but none of the other vehicles I have had have ever had a ball joint failure, but I have never kept a car over 120k miles though. Now I am reading that ball joints have been a problem in Hondas for quite awhile. And that this can be a life-threatening issue. I have thought about keeping this car for one of my kids, as the dealer gave a lifetime power-train warranty, but now I am not so sure about it, due to worrying about safety. Would my child be attentive to this issue? The lady at the dealership did say there was a technical service bulletin on this issue of lubricant distribution in the joints affected by temperature but that the company decided not to give a warranty extension on it. Have to be grateful to the dealer, as they did give me a substantial discount on the repair. I was absolutely set on buying an Oddysey van to replace our 2005 Sienna, but now am not sure about it at all. Prior to this really like this car, except for dome light issues(hard to service and find new bulb-that was premature failure issue too).
I own a 1991 Honda Civic EX sedan with 220,000 miles on it. It has not been an easy life with this vehicle. Probably the most maintenance intensive vehicle I have ever owned. 3 alternators, 2 engine control modules, 1 radiator, transmission had a bearing fail, new clutch, rear brake lines needed replacement, the gas tank support straps rotted off, the A/C died just after a 100k, electric windows and locks stopped working due to broken wiring harness in the driver door, rear bumper mounts rotted off and now is held in place by giant lag bolts tied to 2x4s in the trunk, I am about to replace the front axles for the 3rd or 4th time due to cracking out CV boots, numerous rear muffler replacements due to the long run of piping that never quite gets hot enough to evaporate the condensation, and the engine has always consumed a quart of oil in less than a 1000k miles. And something I wont fault the car to much for, but rather our salty winter roads, is that the rocker panels are so rotted that it no longer can be jacked up using the factory jack points. I’m probably forgetting some other issues I have had with it, but why have I put up with this for so long? Well for one, it does get great gas mileage – I can get get consistent 34mpg and have squeezed 39mpg by driving obnoxiously conservative. Another reason is that my two boys have enjoyed it as their first car and I am hoping to conjure one more year out of it as my youngest will use it as his senior year mode of transportation – saving mine and my wife’s time and miles on our other two cars. The only reason this car has not broken the bank is that I have performed all maintenance and repairs (including the transmission bearing replacement!). I just can’t imagine how the non-DIY’ers out there manage to pay to keep these things running. Bigger paychecks I would guess.
anyone got bad radio reception in their 04″ Honda jazz?
Maybe my last post here. Just came back from a 1000KM road trip and my Odyssey 2003 (on second tranny, original honda with cooler, installed by honda and “Engineered” by honda) scared me a couple of times, reeving like crazy, tranny slipping, shaking…my family got scared. Im keeping it for city trips only.
And for those who dont believe this issue is real, just keep your eyes closed and good luck, as for me, NO MORE HONDAS. One last thing, in case I didnt already say it,I know at least 10 people who had to change their Honda tranny (Accord, Civic, MDX, Ody).
I had a 94 Civic that was the greatest car ever all the way up to 308,700 miles when the rain came in. A 2004 Civic had manual transmission problems. I got rid of it thinking it was a fluke. My 2010 Fit needs to have the transmission replaced at 90,000. I think as time goes by, things change And not only for the better.
I’ve owned 10 cars from different manufacturers: Honda, GM, Chrysler, and Ford. By far, and I mean by FAR, the most reliable cars I’ve ever owned were my three V8 Ford Mustangs. My first car, a 1986 Oldmobile Delta 88 was reliable, other than needing the tranny replaced although it WAS at 180k miles so that’s not bad. I had problems with my 2001 Honda Civic (head gaskets and transmission crapped out), my Dodge Shadow (burned oil like mad), Plymouth Acclaim (electrical problems, and transmission died), two Pontiac Grand Ams (The 2002 wasn’t bad, but too many issues to list in the 1997, and it left me broken down and stranded twice. Engine also started smoking). My 1992 Firebird was pretty reliable for the most part, but a lot of minor cheap repairs needed. After the Firebird, I got a 1989 Mustang 5.0 LX convertible, and that thing just RAN and RAN strong without any issues at all. Got rid of it at 180k miles not because of problems, but I just wanted to upgrade. So I got a 1995 Mustang GT since I was happy with the previous Mustang, and the 1995 was just as reliable! Owned that from 130k to 190k miles and I only ever had to replace the thermostat. $10 part, installed it myself. Again, only sold it because I wanted to upgrade to a newer car. I am now driving a 1999 Mustang GT, I’ve had it for a year and once again not a damn bit of trouble with it so far. Only time it’s spent time in the shop was for body work after my cousin backed into it. Moral of the story: BUY A V8 MUSTANG!!!!
By the way, all of my Mustangs I’ve driven pretty hard at times because they’ve got nice acceleration. Very fun. Even driving them hard, NO PROBLEMS!!! Those other cars I mentioned, I basically drove em like a grandma and they still had issues. Buy a Mustang GT and you’ll not regret it.
Can I have a free gas with it?
Honda’s really do suck
I have never been this disappointed in a car since my very first vehicle in high school. My current Honda accord has cost me so much money and trouble I regret ever buying the car. I am going to list the failures this car has had since I owned it…this is a one year time period.
Timing belt and harmonic balance belt with water pump (water pump bearings fell out)
Thermostat
Valve cover seals
Vss sensor
Main fuel Relay
Alternator
Radiator
Igniter
Map sensor
Ignition switch
Cam seal, crank seal, Rear main seal
Battery
CV axle boot
Tie rod boot
All accessory belts
Lights in gauge cluster
HEAD GASKET
And after all that crap the stinking HEAD GASKET decides to blow and cause major pressure to go into the radiator causing the brand new radiator to blow up like Mount St Hellens! This piece of garbage Honda has caused me so many problems and leaving me stranded more often then my first car (83 Ford Ranger). Don’t get me wrong my Ranger broke down alot… but not like this ridiculous Honda accord. My current 2nd vehicle is an ancient 89′ Mazda B2200 and it will run circles around this piece of garbage Honda… the old pick up never leaves me stranded… It broke down once and it was still was able to make it back home…. NOT the Honda.. When the Honda breaks, it is down for the count and usually very expensive to have repaired. Let’s not forget if your timing belt breaks on the Honda, it will destroy the valve train and maybe punch a whole in your piston. Further more watch out for the transmission on the automatic accords those things break down every 70k for some strange reason! The Honda’s also have a nack for galley seals going bad every two years.. and watch out for the main fuel relay, apparently those were faulty from the factory. My old relic of a pick up has near 200k and the transmission is still original and only needed a 6 dollar vacuum modulator and currently works like it’s new! If you buy a Honda you better get a second vehicle to save your bacon when it decides to randomly break down with some difficult to diagnose problem. My final complaint: To add insult to injury, if you own a pre 01′ Honda, they have the cheapest stinkin ignition system and after you spend all your money maintaining the piece of junk the cars they get stolen! Apparently a first grader designed Honda’s ignition system, so anyone can just hop in and take the car. No more Honda Cars for me.
Had my accord for 14 years. Currently has 460k miles. It’s never broken down ever. Most reliable vehicle I’ve ever had.
I don’t know. I’ve owned both Toyotas and Hondas and both never really broke. I had a 1990 Camry that my ex totaled but it had 180,000 miles at the time and never had a problem. I had a Toyota Corolla that went to 170,000 miles and died. I had a 2001 Accord with 180,000 miles on it at trade and nothing ever needed doing except brakes. I had a 1993 accord that had 155,000 miles but was ruined in a flood from Hurricane Sandy. Now I lease a 2013 Honda Accord which is spectacular. I honestly think that Honda is the best car company and not because I love Honda but I simply think they last much longer than most cars. Maybe there are some flukes but most American card I have had needed substantial repairs before or at or around 100,000 miles. I mean stuff would just break on other cars and your like it needs what? Like everything goes bad. Ok once in awhile maybe some models had a transmission problem. But honestly I would say its close between Honda and Toyots but I find Honda to be a bit more reliable easily soaring to 200,000 miles without major repair in most cases. Again I have seen this first hand through my own vehicles and people who also own them.
Well according to my own experience, I know at least 6 people who have had their tranny in a honda or acura car, and that is out of the 8 I know. When I went to a garage to repair my broken tranny, all the garages told me that honda trannies are crap. You can also read the same type of info in carcomplaints.com and other sites.
We had an 85 CRX with a manual transmission. It had about 340K on the clock when we eventually let it go, and in retrospect that was a mistake. It was absolutely the most reliable car we’ve ever owned.
I had an ’05 Civic with manual transmission and sold it with 188K on the clock. It would’ve gone 300K, certainly. Other than preventative maintenance, I only ever replaced a vacuum hose. Dead reliable and unbelievably fuel-efficient. I must’ve averaged 37MPG driving like a madman.
You can find horror stories about every car, and every brand has problem areas/years/models/etc. Honda is overall quite reliable, though.
What can I tell you…http://www.carcomplaints.com/. Do the research for yourself, if you still dont believe it…well.
I did. It looks like Honda had some poor models 10 years ago while Nissan, Hyundai, Jeep, and Chrysler are still building garbage.
My Nissan never broke down one time in 5 years and it was driven hard. A Nissan can take far more abuse then a Honda. Nissan also makes way cooler cars 350z, 370z, Skyline and G35.I sold mine simply because i bought another sport car with more hp.
2005 Civic 4 door lx special edition, Head gasket failed, Tranny has started slipping, and trunk lock mechanism broken who cares.. bought it for 2k, do the head gasket myself change fluids and she will be a champ.
Honda cheats too! Read to know details.
July 07, 2015
Mr. Takanobu Ito,
President, CEO and Representative Director,
Honda Motor Co. Ltd.,
2-1-1 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku,
Tokyo 107-8556, Japan
Mr. Katsushi Inoue
President & CEO- Honda Cars India Ltd.
Honda Cars India Ltd.
Plot No. A-1, Sector 40/ 41, Surajpur-Kasna Road
Greater Noida Industrial Development Area
Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306
Mr Hiroyuki Shimizu
Sr. Vice President & Director,
Marketing & Sales
Honda Cars India Ltd.
Plot No. A-1, Sector 40/ 41, Surajpur-Kasna Road
Greater Noida Industrial Development Area
Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306
Mr Ajay Kumar
Customer Relationship Management
Honda Cars India Ltd.
Plot No. A-1, Sector 40/ 41, Surajpur-Kasna Road
Greater Noida Industrial Development Area
Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306
Zonal Manager
Honda Cars India Ltd.
Zonal Office – West
D-126, TTC Industrial Area,
MIDC Shiravane, Nerul, Thane-Belapur Road,
Navi Mumbai 400706
Mng. Director
Pinnacle Honda
Chandrani Enterprises P Ltd.
Chandrani Towers
739 Anandpur
Kolkata 700107
c.c. by email:
customersvc4@spirit.honda.co.jp; customer_relations@hondacarindia.com; dilip.vadnagra@pinnaclehonda.com; crm.service@pinnaclehonda.com; sidharthsaraff@yokozuna.in; anita@hondacarindia. com; dilip.vadnagra@pinnaclehonda.com; info@pinnaclehonda.com;
Dear Sirs
Sub: Serious defect in Honda car, arising out of negligence during manufacturing process, leading to excessive and dangerous corrosion which may cause bodily harm to occupants of the Honda car and others
Re: Honda City 1.5 V, Vehicle Registration Number – WB 06 F 6969, Chassis No – MAKGM253ABN206997, Engine No – L15A72214504, Purchase & Warranty date – 13/14-02-2011
You say that…we are dedicated to supplying products of the highest quality, yet at a reasonable price for worldwide customer satisfaction. Sometimes you are not, definitely not in this instance.
Your goal, so you say is… to provide joy through your Business: The Joy of Buying: For those who buy your Products. Sorry, you have provided only sadness, mental harassment, agony and created bad environment and, possibly, of serious accident.
You say that, to meet the particular needs of customers in different regions around the world, you base your sales networks, research and development centers and manufacturing facilities in each region. Furthermore, as a socially responsible corporate citizen, you strive to address important environmental and safety issues. This claim is highly doubtful as you have supplied a vehicle without bearing in mind the environmental conditions (at least in this instance) with improper finish and paint job, a manufacturing defect, leading to extreme corrosion which in turn endangers human safety.
Such behavior, lack of quality consciousness, disregard for environment and safety, is helping Honda India to destroy the unparalleled legacy of greatness created by your Respected Founder Mr Soichiro Honda. Remember he also said “real happiness lies in completion of work using your own brains and skills”. Does the shoddy job provided by you make you happy??
We refer you to our previous correspondence and would notify you that if you do not arrange to carry out complete corrosion repairs to the a/m Honda motor car free of cost within 21 days hereof, we shall institute legal proceedings in appropriate fora against all of you without any further reference to you.
The facts are as follows:
01. Purchase of one Honda City was made on 13-14/02/2011 upon payment of full value to you.
02. Owing to inherent manufacturing defects, leading to uncontrolled rusting, corrosion of body, even the front portion of the vehicle has caved in as shown in photos.
03. This particular car, if not the batch, has rusted since last more than 2 to 3 years owing to a serious and severe deficiency somewhere along the factory line. The damage and responsibility thereof can be established by various tests available incl. salt spray tests. You may also wish to carry out tests at any world-renowned lab supervised by a leading expert of forensics in motor cars, specializing in rust/corrosion matters.
04. Your statement “formation of rust in car happens due to external natural factors”. If that were the case then all cars – Honda or otherwise – on Kolkata, if not Indian roads, would start rusting within 1 or 2 years of purchase as it has happened in your case. We own more than 4 cars – even more than 20 years old – none is affected by rust as the Honda is, although used equally and parked in the very same covered garage.
05. No “stringent” quality tests esp. of the paint job at various corners and undulations were carried out by you.
06. The rusting started after 2, and further deteriorated within 3 years of purchase. Despite the vehicle visiting your workshop numerous times, you did not take any notice of the spreading and dangerous rust. Shockingly, only in 2015 – after we sent our Honda to your workshop at your request (and after we were forced to complain to your Japan HO about the corrosion), you stated that some parts incl. underbody was rusted, totally ignoring the dangerous and unseemly rusting of the main body of the Honda!
07. In the 4th year, the damage – owing obviously to some sort of manufacturing defect by Honda India – is even more dangerous than before;
08. We have found innumerable complaints of rusting and corrosion against Honda City cars sold in India. You are surely aware of this fact.
09. Damage is not caused by external factors directly but by manufacturing defect or owing to Honda not taking sufficient care during manufacturing process.
10. Similar damage is seen in other Honda cars probably of same batch.
11. Your excuse of warranty period having expired does not hold any water.
12. You do not desire an amicable resolution of our concern and wish us to proceed legally in the interest of justice and fair play.
13. The vehicle is parked in a covered garage in Alipore where not only 4 more cars of mine but numerous other cars of other owners are parked all of whom would gladly confirm that their cars have not corroded coz their cars are not manufactured by Honda.
14. As a fond lover of my Honda, I ensure – personally ensure – every morning, that my car is dried thoroughly after being washed and, any extraneous matter, if any, is cleaned.
15. We purchased your product in good faith.
We may add that since our complaint, the corrosion has led to the front end of the vehicle under the bonnet to be severely damaged as well, leading to the frontal parts almost falling off the car as you would observe from the spilt slippery material in the photos.
You can easily verify (1) all the similar complaints made against Honda about rust/corrosion and find a pattern of an inherent manufacturing defect (2) the minutest detail of the corrosion by having the vehicle undergo various investigative tests incl. salt test all of which would establish that Honda is guilty.
Kindly note that – upon expiry of the response period after August 29, 2015 – we would be free to take all possible action against Honda in India and Japan for being duped to buy a vehicle which has corroded owing to obvious manufacturing defect and we would assume that Honda is not interested to rectify the damage.
Yours faithfully,
Director
Attached: Photos
No car, only a few years old rusts out to the point parts start falling off the car and caving in etc…Sounds like a huge scam.. Did you pull this car out of the ocean or something? Sounds like you bought an insurance destroyed vehicle from auction that sat at the bottom of the ocean for a year and washed up one day.You need to keep it legit.
Jack Bob, hi. Yeah, doesnt it remind you of a vehicle fished out of the Indian Ocean. I bought it BRAND NEW in Feb 2011. It just shows how Honda has no scruples in scamming.
And, Joe, I so love cars that I clean it and dry it myself every day.
Why do you guys find it so heard to believe that Honda cheats too, that Honda tries to avoid responsibility after creating manufacturing defects. No one is saying that ALL Honda cars are bad. I can only vouch that what Honda sold to me is this.
Maybe you are not keeping up with maintenance, what about million mile joe he drove his car for a million miles it was a 1990 accord
It is the avoidance of exceptional error which makes an excellent company and not just a good company. In any case, I am taking Honda to the Court shortly. That is one way of ensuring fair play.
Pfft learn to drive a manual transmission car
An update, that you can verify by yourself at carcomplaints.com. Honda is now the proud manufacturer of 6 of the 20 worse cars. Again, is not me who says it, is the people who bought Hondas thinking that they were (and maybe they were at one point) the most reliable carsout there.
Also, as extra info, a car well knon journalist in canada replied to a viewer, when asked about Honda transmission problems: ¨ all manufacturers have problems with their transmissions¨. He ¨forgot¨ to mention that Chrysler, Honda and Ford have being building the worts trannies in thepast 15 years….ah Nissan also, but with far less problems.
Agreed, Carlos, one of the worst is HONDA. However, to be fair to Honda, not every single car which rolls out of Hoidna factories is bad. They do have about 40% good product too. We are suffering coz Honda has cheated us and it refuses to rectify the situation. There goes your Japanese pride and respectability.
I agree that Honda’s reliability and quality has gone down hill. I was a die hard Honda owner until I purchased there worst vehicle made. The Honda Odyssey! Do not buy any Honda V6 vehicle, they all have or will have transmission problems.My transmission first when out at 80,000 miles and the second at 160,000. My friend has put 3 transmissions in his van in 2 years. Every person I speak to with a V6 Honda has replaced their transmission at least once. Its not a cheap fix! Both my uncle and a friend that is a Honda mechanic has said that Honda has not corrected this issues yet. They say most V6 Honda that come into the shop not running is do to a bad transmission. They also have bad AC compressors also that can go out whenever and is a $1,400+ to fix on any model. Sad to say that I will never buy another Honda 1998 and newer again. If they would own up to it and say they did make bad transmissions but it’s fixed now, I may give them a try, but maybe not. My brother-in-law did not listen to me and still bought a Honda Odyssey and now his Odyssey’s transmission is clunking.
Happy to report that we are taking Honda to court to pay for its sins.
The Honda Accord 4 cylinder is good.
The Honda Accord 6 cylinder transmissions during the early to mid 2000’s sucked.
honda accord 4 cylinder also have many transmission issues…..Honda does not descriminate 🙂
My 2003 honda accord trans went out at 67000. The trans shop said honda vehicles trans repairs are what keep them in business. Honda can not or will not ever come close to Toyota quality. This is my first and last honda. I’ve has multiple camrys with NO problems.
I agree 100%. I had transmission problems at 75K miles on both the Accord and the Civic! Do you have any data on timing belts? Those went out even more frequently and cost me over a grand each time! You pay a lot for Hondas upfront, because you don’t want the headaches later on, but that’site not what you get! I’ll compare my CURRENT 1999 Dodge to ANY Honda I’ve ever own!
Timing belts are a wear and tear maintenance that comes with owning a Honda. Don’t go over 100 without changing it, or you’ll bend your valves and cost you thousands in repairs. If you’re handy with a wrench, learn to do it yourself and save hundreds.
Hondas are not built for men, they are built for weak little pansy drivers who never move their slow ass out of the way
You know this is probably true about Honda. I thought Honda’s were like the best before I bought a 2010 odyssey that’s given me more problems than any vehicle I’ve ever owned. Mind you this car was bought from my family whom working with cars their whole lives (especially Honda) said it would be great. So far I’ve spent $1500 on stupid stuff like power steering. Now I have a piston slapping and horrible transmission shifts. My grandfather finally told me to get rid of it. I’m thinking of either a Sienna or Sedona because I refuse to rely on a Chrysler for my family’s safety.
I agree, Honda cars are completely over rated. Not only are they prone to breaking down (transmissions, engines, suspension, ball joints). They are also most commonly in accidents. About 1/3 of all accidents involve a Honda… that tells you that they are unsafe cars driven by unsafe people. As a mechanic, I recommend GM, they have made a wonderful recovery. If you like imports, Hyundai is doing great! Mazda has always kept quality above profit. If you are looking for top reliability, you can’t go wrong with Toyota. The only thing that Honda has going for it, is all it’s marketing and advertising. Honda spends more for advertising and marketing than any other company. I always thought that good cars should sell themselves! 🙂
My late 80’s honda and early 90’s Honda were very reliable. Went 200k+ before I sold it off with no real issues. Then came my brand new 04′ Accord. Drove well the first 3 yrs, then the problems came. Broken door actuators, one after another (3 of them, before I sold), leaking oil from head gasket, dead battery at 37 months, slipping tranny at high speed, and a slew of other minor items. Got rid of it in 07′ and went Toyota. Got a Tacoma for myself and a corolla for my wife. Haven’t had an issue since, other than regular maintenance. IMO, Hondas became junk after the 90’s.
Every auto maker has a blog like this. The level of hate usually correlates with reputation level with Toyota being the most hated.
And every auto maker has reliable and unreliable models. You have to take it on a case-by-case basis. As another poster said, most of these studies have very little statistical significance and are based on biased sample sets.
I’ve personally only bought cars made in Japan. I’m not talking about the brand or the make, I’m talking about the actual assembly and parts content. I’ve never had a major repair in over 25 years spread across 2 vehicles.
I too have a 2000 honda accord 4 cylinder 99.000 miles no rust clean inside and out bought in n.c. the trannys been shifting hard off and on for the past year now its slipping in third gear cost to repair over 3,200 😟
You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most persons will consent with your site.
In the past 2 years, I have seen no less than 8 Honda’s on the road with broken ball joints. As a car Mechanic, I don’t believe there’s any reason to think Honda’s steel is better than anyone elses and for the price they ask, the Honda’s are grossly over priced. You can buy a cheap 2nd hand car for 2,000 or the same age/shape Honda for 10,000. Both are going to cost you another 2,000 in repairs over the next few years… so which one is really cheaper?
I know several people that have owned hondas and nothing but trouble, including Prelude, new Acura and new Pilot which was actually a lemon. Not too mention the drive, steering and reliability are not as good as Toyota. In fact we have a Subaru Forester that destroys the CRV across the board in drive, reliability, safety, price, looks and AWD systems…And has been #1 small SUV in Car and Driver and Consumer Reports….Yet these “honda people” are afraid to try anything else. Well we have tried hondas including the odyessey, which is flat out ugly and it is so far behind the Sienna its not funny.
My 2016 Honda has had the engine replaced under warranty as the original died.
I was informed by by a letter my replacement engine was in need of replacement as they replaced it with another recalled engine ! It was sold before I had the replaced engine ,replaced ,unreal !
I also had a 2003 Honda Accord that the transmission failed at 21,000 miles,it was replaced I sold it ..
I had a 1995 Accord and I know with that you change the timing belt and water pump before the recommended guidlines otherwise you blow your engine,as it is an interference engine…I spend a lot of money on that,sold it..I was given my grand parents 1984 Mercury Grand Marquis..Very reliable did nothing the 120,000 miles of driving it (80,000 on it already),kept it pristine my Uncle bought it from me and continued to make it like new,he still has it for memory sake !
My Brother works at Chrysler (mechanic/technician) and said The Chrysler products on the list the Dodge Intrepid/Chrysler Sebring that are on the list have the same 2.7 V-6,get the 3.2. or 3.5 those went forever..The Sebring get the 2.4 reliable..The 2.7 could get sludge if not changing the oil with correct oil and on time..Toyota 3.0 was far worse for sludge..Just they sold a lot of Sebrings and Intrepids with the 2.7 from 1997-2005 ..
I no longer will own a Honda or Japanese car again,looking into them they are not any better than anone,most likely worse as the serious engine problems exist today,not ended in 2005 like the 2.7 Chrysler/Dodge cars…
I bit the bullet and bought a Charger with a 5.7 Hemi,I always liked them,my neighbor has a 2008 with 270,000 miles on the original engine and trans..So,why not..Plus my brother works for a dealer and I got a great deal..he drives a 2015 with 70,000 problem free,so far out lasted my 2 Honda’s and less amint than my 1995 when it was new.The 2017’s have been gone through and suspension,electrics ,engine have been redone and upgraded..It already is on the way to outlast my 2016 Honda CRV..
More Honda problems the starters on the new accords are lemons too,they fail ! My Wifes sister bought one and guess what !! We told her not to buy a Honda,did she listen NO..She listens to Consumers Reports lol !
I’m wondering if it makes a difference where each car is put together….it just can’t be a broad brush answer. I’m driving a 2004 Odyssey with almost 250K on it with only a sensor having to be replaced.
Maybe too many Honda owners that are just too careless handling their Hondas?
Honda does not want your car to last too long…. because they want to make money on repairs and count on you buying a new car from them………They are not as reliable as they were in the 90s……..
Toyota is not as reliable either………although, they do not have many trasmission problems….They both cut corners, use low quality parts nowadays………..Honda has had serious quality and realbility issues over the last dacate…..many more than toyota, and they sell in similar quantites. Do not get me wrong …I just purchased my first honda and I like the way it drives…..I just hope it will be reliable….
I had an accord with pop up headlights that had under 100,000 miles and the transmission was on it’s way out. My dad purchased a new 2001 Honda Accord and had to have the transmission replaced at 11,000 miles. I’ve owned many Toyotas and they are much more reliable. If you don’t believe me watch how to kill a Toyota on YouTube, 3 part series. Which should be called unable to kill Toyota. Like to see a honda in the ocean, burned, hit with a wrecking ball, and on top of a 22 story building that was being felled and more and see why Toyota is better. I don’t care about speed, I care about reliability and Toyota wins hands down. Watch the video and you’ll be a believer too.
Agree. I’m currently on my 5th Honda and it may well be my last. It’s a 2018 CRV and it has been one problem after another since the day I bought it. Currently I have to carry a wrench in my driver’s side door to once a day unhook the battery cable to get the damn warning lights to shut off. Dealership told me it’s a wild goose chase it could be anything in the electrical system setting it off they have no idea. If you do a search online you’ll see lots of other people are having this problem. I think next time I’m seriously going to look at getting a Toyota instead.